Advertisement
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025 was far from predictable. It was total chaos, marked by crashes, penalties, and unexpected podiums. But what shocked everyone the most was McLaren’s result with Lando Norris on P7 and Oscar Piastri ending in DNF. McLaren stepped into this weekend in hopes of closing the Constructor’s Championship 2025 with a double podium, but as the fate would have it, with Piastri’s early crash in lap 1 and Norris failing to secure a better place on grid, these hopes were shattered. Not only did they lose a chance to lock in the championship with seven rounds yet to go, they endured the worst weekend of the 2025 season.
It’s no surprise that McLaren has been at the top of their game this season, and the only weekend that comes close to Baku’s result was the Canadian Grand Prix 2025, where Lando Norris ended up in DNF and Oscar Piastri finished P4. But Baku 2025 was even worse.
Baku 2025: McLaren’s Nightmare
The drama began before the race even really got going. Piastri, starting from ninth on the grid, made a costly error by jumping the start. This rare misjudgment for the championship leader dropped him to the very back of the pack. And not long after, at Turn 5, a crash brought his race to an abrupt and crushing end, resetting his 34-race streak of finishing Grand Prix events to zero and leaving McLaren staring at a zero on the scoreboard from one of their stars.
Lando Norris, meanwhile, managed to avoid a nightmare but was far from trouble-free. Limited overtaking opportunities and a painfully slow pit stop (4.1 seconds) kept him bottled up in midfield, unable to capitalise on Piastri’s misfortune or push significantly up the order. Finishing seventh meant he could only earn six points from Piastri’s championship lead.
From start to finish, the Baku race was a challenge for McLaren, and the luck just wasn’t on their side.
Looking ahead, McLaren must figure out what’s wrong with them and fix it before Singapore next weekend. The season still has seven rounds left, and while the points gap has widened, there’s racing left to be done.
Also read: Nara Devaansh Becomes Fastest Solver Of Chess Puzzles, Earns World Record